Driving means for taximeters



July 12.1927. y 1,635,698

c. ANsToTz -ET AL DRIVING MEANS FOR TAXIMETERS Filed J'uly 20. 1925 NVENTORS.

Patented JulyilZ, 1927.A 'i

UNITED STATES 1,635,698 PATENT *'oFFics.

, cHARLEs ANsToTz AND WALDEMAE sAUPE, oENEWYoaK, N. Y., AssIGNoas To oH- MEE. FARE REGISTER coiitPANY,r E DAYTON, omo, A CORPORATION 0E NEW YORK.

nRIvING MEANS Foa .,TAXIMETERS.

' Application mea July 20,-1925. seriai No; 44,758.

This invention relates to a combined indicating and registering apparatus for taximeters, and consists of an improvement on the structure shown in the patent to Popp and De Horevitz, 912,728 granted February i6, i909.

One of the objects of this invention is to ien'iedy such defects sothat the drive for the taiiimeter will be accurate and reliable.

The invention further provides an apparatus of the character referred to which shall be comparatively simple in its construction, strong, dura le. efficient in its operation, readily interchangeable with the mechanism now in use and comparatively inexpensive' to manufacture. The objectionable levers above referred to are eliminated so that there is no chance for the counters to be driven incorrectly thereby. With the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention consists of the novelconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter morespecically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein is shown the preferred embodiment of' the invention, but it is to be' understood that changes, variations and modifications can he resorted to which comevvithin the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

Inl the drawingsz' kFigure 1 is a side elevation ot the taxi-f meter having incorporated therein the improvement which constitutes one embodiment of this invention.

Referring to the drawing in det-ail, the sidexwall of the casing is denoted vby the 'reference character 10.` yJournaled in this side wall is a shaft 11, onWhich ismountedy a ear 12, driven by a Worm 13, carried byha short shaft y14, journaled in bearings 1b and 16, which bearings are secured tothe side wall 10. A pitman 17 is actuated by the gear 12, which pitman in turnactuates a counter (not shown) which counter indicafes the total number of units of distance traveled. e y n A shaft 18 'is operatively connected with the shaft 14 by means of a resilient yor flexible connection 19, which in the specific instance shown is as ring, the lower end of kwhich fits into the ifurcated upper end 20 of the shaft 18 and the upper end of the flexible connection 19 fits into the bifurcated lower extremity of the shaft 14. The shaft 18 is journaled in bearings 21 and 22. The bearing 21 is .provided Wit-h a slot 23, through which extends a pin 24, the said pin 24 extending into the side wall 10. A stop 25 is mounted on the side Wall 10 which limits the inward movementy of the bearing 21. A spring 26 tends to pull the slidable bearingr 21'inwardly so that a Worm 27, se-

cured to the shaft 18 immediately above thel` p bearing 21, is brought into mesh with aV gear 28 secured to the main driving shaft A ot-` the taximeter. The position of the parts shown in Figure 1 is the position the parts would be in when the flag (not shown) was in operative position. When however the flagis rotated to the vacant position, the cam 29 on ythe flag shaft 30 engages the upper end of the shaft 18 and moves it outwardly from thel iiag Shaft 30 so that the worm 27 is. disengaged from the gear 28.

The flexible shaft` (not shown) is driven bythe front wheels. of the automobile or other moving part thereof and is connected with a spindle 131, journaled in a bearing 32, carried by the side Wall of the taximeter, which spindle 31 is provided With'a disc 33, carrying a pawl 34. The shaft 35 is journaled in a bearing 36, Which shaft is provided at its lower end with a ratchet Wheel. 37, which is operated by the pavv'l 34, which pawl ispressed against the teeth of the ratchet Wheel by means of a spring 38, The shaft 35 carries at its upper end a pinion 39, which meshes with and drives a pinion 40 secured to the lower end of the shaft 18.

The gear 12 is pro/vided With a pin '41, adapted to engage a lug 42 on a bar 43, which bar is mounted on a pin` 44, on a crank 45 which operates the counter indicating the number of units of paid distance and on a pin 46 on the bell crank lever 47. When the flag shaft 3() is in hired position, as indicated in thedrawind, the pin 41 which rotates in an anti-clockwise direction engages` the lug 42 and moves the bar 43 to the right, the bar sliding on the pin 46 and actuating the crank arm 45. `When however the fiag shaft is rotating to the vacant position the end 48 of the bell crank lever 47 enters the cani 49 of the Hag shaft 30 thereby permitting the spring 50 to rot-ate the bell crank lever`47 clockwise on its fulcrum 51 so that the end of the slot 52 of the bar 43 engages the pin 46 so that the bar is moved to the right and the lug 42 is moved so that the pin l cannot aetuate the said bar. Under these conditions the counter' which indicates the total number of units of distance will be driven when the machine is operated by means of the pitman 1T, and while the pin afl is rotated, it does not actuate the bar f3 and hence the counter for the units of paid distance is not actuated nor is the main shaft ot' the taximeter driven under these conditions for the cam 29 has disengaged the worm 2T from the main shaft driving gear 28.

lVithout further description it. is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and it will be understood that changes in the form, proportion and details of construction ma)` be resorted to withont departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

7e claim:

1. A driving means for a taximeter, including a rotatable spindle adapted to be driven by a moving part of a vehicle. a pinion thereon. a driving shaft, bearings for said driving shaft, including a substantially stationary bearing near the lower end of the said shaft and a slidable bearing positioned above the substant-iallj,r stationary bearing, a main operating shaft, gear thereon, a worm on the said driving shaft whereby said gear is driven, a pinion on the lower end of said driving shaft adapted to mesh with said first mentioned pinion. said slidable bearing permitting said worm to be brought into or ont of driving contact with said gear. and means whereby said slidable bearing is tensioncd so as to tend to hold said worm in mesh With said gear.

2. A driving means for a taximeter including a driving shaft, a second shaft driven thereby. a flexible connection between said shafts. means driven by said second shaft. a main operating shaft. means whereby said main operating shaft may be driven by said driving shaft: and means whereby said last mentioned means rendered inoperative.

3. A driving means for a taximeter, including a driving shaft. a bearing near one end of said shaft permitting a slight axial movement of said shaft, a slidable bearing for said shaft provided with a slot therein. means 'passing through said slot and into the side of the taximeter so as to permit of a greater movement of the upper end of Said rwhen the slidable bearing` is shaftI than the movement of the lower end, a main operating shaftl for thertaximeter, means whereby said shafts may be operatively connected so that the said main operating shaft will be driven by the driviixg shaft in one position, and so that the said last mentioned means will be rendered inoperative when the slidable bearing is in another of its positions.

if. A driving means for taXimeters includingl a driving shaft, a main operating shaft, means whereby said shafts may be operatively connected, a flag shaft and means earried by said flag shaft directly engaging said driving` shaft wherein' the first mentioned means may be rendered inoperative.

A driving means for taximeters. including ay driving shaft, a second shaft. driven thereby. a flexible connection between said shafts, elements driven by each of said shafts and a cam wl'iereby the driving shaft is rendered inoperative in so far as the elementdrivcn thereby is concerned.

G. A driving means for taximeters including a driving` shaft, a slidable bearing therefor, a worm carried by said shaft, a main operating gear driven thereby, a flag shaft, a cam thereon adapted to engage said driving shaft and move said worm out of mesh with said gear when the flag shaft is in vacantposition and spring means to cause said gear and worm to mesh when the flag shaft is in hired position.

7. A driving` means for taximeters including a driving shaft. a bearing near one end of said shaft, a slidable bearing intermediate the ends of said shaft. a. second shaft, a fienible connection between said driving shaft and said second shaft, means driven by said second shaft whereby the total number of units of distance are recorded. a worm on said driving shaft, a. main driving gear driven thereby, a flag shaft positioned near the upper end of said drivingl shaft, a am carried thereby said cam engaging the upper end of said drivingshaft and slightly rotating it on the first' mentioned bearing, as a` fulcrum causing the worm to be unmeshed from said main oliicrating gear and means whereby said worin is caused to mesh with said main operating gear when the fiag shaft has been rotated to hired position.

In testimony whereof we affix our signin tures.

CHARLES ANSTOTZ. VALDEMAR SAUPE. 

